Practical discussion on contemporary life challenges from an ancient perspective.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

TRIUMPH OVER THE PRIDE OF LIFE

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from
here.For it is written: ‘He shall give
His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear
you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has
been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” Now when the devil had
ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.Then Jesus returned in the power of the
Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding
region.And He taught in their
synagogues, being glorified by all.” (Luke 4:9-15)

Here was a shortcut to being acclaimed
as the Messiah.He could make a grand
entrance and have the applause of the masses in the place of prayer below.It was a temptation to the pride of
life.

The Devil even quotes Scripture as an
incentive to take “the leap of faith,” which was really
not faith, but presumption!

The sly speech of the serpent,
however, is taken out of context. This
is what false religion does.Let’s examine the
original quote and see how Satan amended it:

For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your
ways.In their hands they shall bear you
up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent
you shall trample underfoot. (Psalm 91:11-13)

I think we can see why the Devil left
out a significant part.First, he ended
the phrase, “For He shall give His angels
charge over you, To keep you” and
omitted, “in all your ways.”His ways were ever the Father’s ways, as
He did not come to do His own will, but to glorify the Father’s name by doing
His work.It is even more apparent why
Satan would not quote verse thirteen, “You
shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you
shall trample underfoot.”This
predicted the Devil’s demise!It is the
very thing Christ was doing in the desert—overcoming Satan who goes about as a
roaring lion (1 Pet.5:8)
and stomping the Old Serpent’s head underfoot (Gen.3:15).

Satan whimpers off like a scolded
puppy.James 4:7 says, “Therefore submit to God.Resist
the devil and he will flee from you.”But he won’t go far, and won’t stay long.As with Jesus, Satan will watch for an
opportunity later to assail us again.He
is nothing, if not persistent!

Jesus proved His impeccable
credentials and was now ready to embark on His mission with great power.He was tested and triumphant.God’s voice had spoken His approval from
heaven at His baptism and now His victory had given the assurance of holiness
in His temptation.

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About Me

I am a mountaineer by birth--a native of Asheville, NC. For a period of ten years I lived in the Charlotte area and for the last eighteen, I have been "home." I was brought up in a Christian family. In fact, I went to church nine months before I was born! Despite the best efforts of parents and preachers, I went astray. The Prodigal Son story that Jesus told in Luke 15 became my story--a sordid life of drugs and booze and that's enough for you to know. But at the age of eighteen all I had been taught came flooding back into my mind when I saw the mess I was in. Christ changed me. I gave my life to Him and as a result have spent the last three decades preaching the Gospel. I'm not all I ought to be and certainly not what I one day shall be, but thankfully, not what I used to be! God has blessed me with a great wife, five wonderful children and so far, twelve grandchildren. To Him be the glory and praise, now and forever.